A dash of Mainstream and a whole lot of Metal
|  | | Ryan Adams | On a recent tour, the singer-songwriter Ryan Adams insisted on not knowing which city he was scheduled to play next and how long each stop would be. But he has been far from directionless. Mr. Adams has been writing a book of prose and poetry, to be published in March by Akashic Books. He has been working on his third album with his band, the Cardinals, "Cardinology" (Lost Highway), which will be released on Tuesday.
And then there was a three-week cross-country tour this fall that will continue in Europe in November. Though his sound on the latest album errs on the side of melodic alt-country with a few driving rock songs, Mr. Adams, 33, described listening to a variety of artists.
This month, while riding on a tour bus somewhere between Kansas City and Texas and making beats on a laptop to ward off grogginess that came from fighting a flu, he spoke by phone with Winter Miller about what he has been listening to lately. I feel like Mariah is loosening up, finding herself again. This is a woman who makes amazing albums. She got panned for "Glitter", but she was just taking a stab at her "8 Mile", "Purple Rain" and "Xanadu". With "The Emancipation of Mimi" she figured out how to dig back into songs and jams and not overdo it vocally. Her pride probably got hurt, she had something to prove, she went nah, watch this, I'm going to emancipate myself - and the record demonstrated this. "E = MC2" (Island) is a very sexy, cool record. She's funny, the beats are great, a lot of slow jams. She's not a pop star; she writes her own stuff, and she really collaborates. Her sampling ideas are well informed; she's very involved in her recording process. Her records are masterpieces. (excerpt from The New York Times)
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